Improvement in sewing-machine



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Inventor.

be formed much more rapidly with less liability to cle-- ation of the stitches, and to be hereinafter described.

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WILLIAM s. MEAD, or NEW YORK, N; Y

Letters Patent No. 101,292, (lated Mfrch 29, 1870: antedated March 17, 1870.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINE.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. MEAD, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new aud useful Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a t'ull, clear, and exact description thereof', reference heilig had to the acclmpanying drawings making partot' thisl specih'cation, in which- Figure l is a front elevation;

Figure 2 is a bottom view;

Figures 3, 4, and 5, are cross vertical sections taken in the planes ot' the lilies Aa, B b, and C c, ot' ligs. 1 and 2; and

Figure 6 is a separate View on an enlarged scale 0f the. thumb-ainl-finger mechanism.

The saine letters iudieate'like parts in all the tigures.

My said invention relates to improvements on a machine described in and secured by Letters Patent granted to 1l. William Dopp ou the 28th day ot' February, 1860, by means of which said improved ina.- chine three did'erent kinds of stitches heretofore made by the machine described in the said Dopp patent canraugelnent and with less noise, viz., the rotary stitch, the latter having one ot' the threads appear ou the under surface ot' the cloth as having been wound around the otherin a spiral forni.

In the accompanying drawingsa represents the table of the machine, and

b, a standard and curved arm iu the vertical front end of which the needle-bar c slides, in manner not materially dilerent from other sewing-machines.

The needle-bar is reeiprocated by a lever, d, which receives motion by an eccentric rod, c, ti'om an eecentric, f, on the main shaft g below the table, or 'in any other suitable manner well known to constructors of sewing-machines.

'The presser-foot It ior holding the material to be sewed onto the the table is mounted in the front end of the arm ot' the standard by the side of the needlebar, in manner not materially different from other machines.

And the feederz' is arranged below and acts on the material through an aperture in the table, as is wellknown, andthe required motion is given to the feeder in manner represented in the accompanying drawings,- and as is well known to persons skilled in the art.

The needle j is of the usual form, but may be shorter than used in other machines, by reason ofthe organization which co-operates with-it for the forin- The needle-thread k is on a spool, l, and passes through suitable guides to the ueedle,and is to be controlled by any of' the known means for regulating the tension.

And the shuttle-thread on aspool, m, is mounted in a shuttle, n, the form of' which may be varied, although l prefer to make it as represented in the drawings.

This shuttle, with its spool ot' thread, is dropped into a case or shuttle-holder, m', secured to the under side ot' the table and close to the aperture in vthe table in-whieh the needle works, and is inserted through an aperture, p, iu the table, covered by a slidingr plate, q.,

W'hen inserted the shuttle remains stationary ihnring the operations ofthe machine, except a slight movement given to it by the thread, it being loosely tittcd in the case for that purpose, and both the shuttle and the case are slightly inclined from a perpendicular line, as represented.

The horizontal section of the shuttle-case is very similar to a corresponding section ol' the shuttle, and llas an opening, lr, along its entire height infront and between the flat part s next to the needle andthe curved back, which opening is for the passage of' the loop of the needle-thread which is carried around it, as will be hereinafter described.

rlhe shuttle-"tluead t extends from the shuttle over the upper edge of the flat part s ot' the shuttle-case to the cloth to be sewed.

So soon as the needle has descended and carriedits thread below the table, the loop ot this thread'is taken lly a hook, a, which opens out the loop and carries it around the shuttle to interlock the needlethread with the shuttle-thread.

This hook is formed as represented, and projects from the front of a link, lv, and nea-r to that end of the link which is .titted to acrank-pin, w, on the end of the main shai'tg; and the other or upper end of the hook c is hinged to one end of a radiusbar,x,the lower end ot' which is in turn hinged to a hanger, y, attached to the under side of the table.

The motion given to the hook by reason of the connections is such, in view of the inclined position of the plate s of the shuttle-case, that when it takes the loop of the needlefthread it is to the right of the upper end of the plate s; it carries the loop in ffront oi' the front edge ot the said plate, and as it. descends gradually carries it to the left ot' the said plate, so that one side of the said loop is passed to the lleft of front edge of the shuttle, and the other side of' it between the shuttle and the said plate s, thefront and lower edges ot' which are beveled or rounded to facilitate the passage ot' the thread, and, after the hook has carried the loop under and around the lower end of the shuttle, it liberates the loop preparatory to taking another.` The peculiar motionoftlie'hook, due to the opening ofthe finger-hook the rotation of the crank, and the connection of the link on which it is formed with the crank and with the radius-bar, is represented in the accompanying drawuws. f l:After thehook has taken the loop of 4the needlethread, and whilst it is opening it and carrying it around the shuttle,the left-hand side ofthe loop is taken and carried around in front of -and to the right of the other side of the loop, and, by this ope-ration ,the shuttlethread is thereby carried around the needle-thread, so that when the stitch is formed the shuttle-thread is not onlyinterlocked with'the needle-thread butwound around at each stitch, and in what appears as a helix, thereby securing the stitch, so that it cannot be unraveled.

The instrumentality by which the last-named operation is performed may be termed. the thumb-andtinger mechanism, to be next described.

here is a slidingr bar, al, adapted to slide in suitable ways secured to the under side of the. table, and this bar receives the required reciprocating motion from a cam-groove,b,in the periphery of a cam-wheel -on the main shaft g by a rocking-lever, c, one arm oi which engages the sliding bar, and the other arm carries a roller, d1, which runs in the cam-groove b.

The lett-hand end et' this bar is bent, as shown at c', to permit the passage of the hook u in its revolu- `tions before described, and at the extreme end ot' the said bar there is formed ahook termed thetinger-hook, represented on an enlarged scale at iig. 6.

While the hooku is opening the loop of the needlethread the bar a' is moved from lei't to right, and in so moving the finger-hook takes the left-hand side ot' the loop and carries it around in iont of and to the right of the other side, and lthere holds it until the needle again descends, that it may pass through suc-h loop while so twistedfbut to prevent the loop from escaping from the finger-hook during any part of the operation there is a thumb-piece, j", which closes until the loop is required to be liberated, that that stitch may be closed bythe forming of the next loop. l

rlhis thumb-piece f is hinged to the upper surface of the finger-piece at g', and back oi' the hinge it is enlarged, as represented at h', and from the under face of this projects a pin, i', which, as the bar moves to the right and toward the end of that motion, passes under an inclined cam, j', which vmakes it close the finger-hook; and, as the loop should be thus held during the'returu-'motion of the finger-hook, the'eam j' projects from the 'ace of an arm, k', that vibrates on a. stud pin secured to the under face of the table, and

the cam j' is so formed that on the return mot-ion the piu i' passes on the other side, the arm being pormiese vided withv a spring, l', to permit the arm and cam to yield for that purpose.

The thumb-pieceis operated to open the {ingerhook ,and liberate the loop toward the end of the re-I turn motion, by the cam-form ot' the edge at g strikl ing against the arm L near its stop-pin, or bystriking any other stop.

y As above described, the machine will form what has been above described as the. rotary stitch.

It the shuttle be leit in the shuttle-case, but without a slmttle-t-hread, or by simply cutting the shut-- tle-thread, the machine, without any alteration, will form the well-known chain-stitch, but with the shuttle and slmttle-thread in connection, by merely suspending the operationv ot* the thumb-aml-ingcr mechanism, themachine will form the lock-stitch the same as the well-known Wheeler and Wilson machine, and all that is necessary to be done to tit the machine-ibi sewing the lock-stitch is silnply to dra-w the frictionroller al' out of the cam-groove b', leaving the fingen hook in the extreme position to the left.

And this disconnection is readily effected by having the friction-roller which rlmsin thecftm-groore mounted on the end or a cylindriealrod, lr' titted in the arm ofthe lever sothat it can slide therein, atlmmb-si-rew, s', or equivale-nt device, being used to secure the said rod with the. roller in or out ot' the cam-groove.

Having thus described the construction and mode of operation ot' my improvements, that they may be distinguished from the machine described in the said. Dopp patent improved thereby,

What I-claim as my mvention, and desire to secure- 1. llie mechanism of the finger-hook for crossing -thumb-and-iinger mechanism i'or crossing and controlling the loop of the ncedle-threml, and the needle,

substantially as and ior the purpose. described.

3. The cam for reciprocating thelinger-hook and thumb-piece, and the lever and roller so arranged that it can be disconnected from lthe cam, in ci'nnbination with the finger-hook and thumb-lance, substantially as described, by means of which the machine can be readily lchanged to sew seams with the rotary, the chain, or the lock-stitch, as set fort-h.

WM. S.'M'EAD.

Witnesses:

A. J. DE LACY, A. B. BisnoP. 

